Wednesday 11 February 2026
Through the years we had visited 49 of the US states. In 2006 we enjoyed a two week tour of Alaska and by 2016 we’d visited all the contiguous forty-eight in a teardrop camper over the course of four years. Now today we’ve visited Hawaii, the 50th State, and our 50th! When we awakened this morning the Queen Mary 2 was moored at Pier 1 in Honolulu. Over the last few days we’ve listened to lectures by Michael Malaghan, historian and author, giving us an overview of the history of the Hawaiian Islands from the 18th Century forward. So after a quick breakfast this morning we were on board a bus ready for our “Monarchs & Missionaries: Hawaii’s Royal History” tour. Most of the sites we visited are near one another in the Hawaii Capital Historic District in Downtown Honolulu and although we might have just walked there from the pier, taking the tour gave us the opportunity to listen to our tour guide, Wally, give us more insight into the history and culture of his homeland. At the first stop we got out to admire and to photograph the imposing statue of King Kamehameha I (kah-meh-ah-meh-ah) who first united all of Hawaii in 1810. From there we visited the Hawaiian Mission Houses that preserves the stories of the Christian missionaries from New England who were welcomed by Queen Ka‘ahumanu in 1820. In the years that followed they established schools for Hawaiian children, introduced an alphabet for the Hawaiian language, introduced European concepts of morality, and baptized many converts to Christianity. By the 1860’s Hawaii had a 70% literacy rate. We viewed replica of the native style grass hut that served as the missionaries’ first home here and toured the two oldest houses in Honolulu, built in 1821 and 1822, that served as multi-family homes as well as the print shop where the Hawaiian language bibles were produced. Next we drove past but could not enter the grounds of the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii, the final resting place for all but two of Hawaii’s monarchs. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the bus to get a good look at it, but a little later we did get the opportunity to get out and walk around at The Pali Lookout five miles northeast of downtown on the windward coast. This is the site of the Battle of Nu’uanu in 1795 in which King Kamehameha I’s forces defeated the O’ahu forces by driving hundreds of warriors over the cliff. Back in town our final stop was Iolani Palace for a docent-led tour. Built on the same site as the first Iolani Palace, this American Florentine palace was modeled after grand palaces in Europe and served as the seat of the Hawaiian monarchy from 1883 for King Kalākaua and for Queen Liliʻuokalani the last two Hawaiian monarchs until the overthrow of the monarchy. The palace served as office space for the the various successive governments until 1969, ten years after statehood. Then after 87 years as a center of Hawaiian government, the state offices left the palace and moved to a new adjacent capitol building. At that point palace restoration commenced. It opened to the public as a museum in 1978. Today many of the furnishings have been restored and the building reflects much of its original glory. We were treated to a tour of the first and second floor areas of the palace from the Throne Room to the King’s Bedroom celebrating the era in which the Kingdom of Hawaii was well regarded worldwide. Also we visited the bedroom in which Queen Lili was held under house arrest after the overthrow of the monarchy to benefit American landowners. Today’s tour has given us a much deeper understanding of the history of Hawaii from the time of the first European contact to statehood and beyond as well as much food for thought. Then to finish up our visit to Honolulu we did a little bit of a walkabout from the pier through the Hawaii Pacific University campus into downtown Honolulu to get a bit of a feel for Hawaiian day to day life. Once back on board ship we were treated to a series of performances by students at Halau Lilia Makanoe dance school giving us a sense of the role hula plays passing down the stories and traditions of native Hawaiian culture. For us was a much appreciated Aloha welcome to Hawaii. This, the first of our adventures as we venture west of continental United States into territory new to the two of us, has been an incredible experience!
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